Born in Guangxi, she won her first international medals at the 1987 Asian Athletics Championships. She placed third in the 100 metres behind the more established Lydia de Vega and P.T. Usha but took the gold with the Chinese 4×100 metres relay team. She won the 100 m title at the Chinese Athletics Championships the following year and gained selection for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, where she was a quarter-finalist. The 1990 season saw her win a 100/200 metres double at the Chinese Championships and she ran in both events at the 1990 Asian Games. Hosted in Beijing, Tian became the Asian Games champion in the 100 m individual and relay events, as well as taking the bronze medal over 200 m. She continued to succeed on the regional stage the following year as she won the 100 m gold and relay title at the 1991 Asian Athletics Championships – the team of Pei Fang, Tian, Chen Zhaojing and Xiao Yehua set a championship record of 43.41 seconds for the event. She was chosen to compete at the 1991 World Championships in Athletics, but again did not progress beyond the quarterfinals. Tian made her second Olympic appearance at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. She reached the quarterfinals of the 100 m for a second time and also ran in the heats of the relay competition, alongside Gao Han, Chen Zhaojing, and Xiao Yehua. The quartet regrouped for the 1992 IAAF World Cup held in Havana and they claimed the women's relay time with a time of 43.63 seconds. Tian also won the individual bronze medal, running 11.44 seconds for third place behind home favourite Liliana Allen. The 7th Chinese National Gamesin September 1993 saw Chinese sprinting reach new heights: Tian set a personal best of 11.24 seconds for the 100 m but was beaten into second place by Liu Xiaomei, who broke the Asian record for the event with her run of 11.02 seconds. Tian also helped Guangxi to the relay National Games title. Three months later Tian defeated Liu in the 100 m at the 1993 Asian Athletics Championships to retain her regional title in a time of 11.36 seconds. The pair teamed up to secure the 4×100 m relay title for China for a fourth consecutive title. Tian did not appear on an international podium again after 1993. Her last outing at a major event was the 1997 Chinese National Games. She set a 100 m personal best of 11.06 seconds to place third behind Liu and Li Xuemei. The games was seriously marred by doping – many champions were stripped of their titles and the overall level of performances remain questionable to international audiences. Tian was a relay silver medallist in the National Games with Guangxi and this proved to be her last major medal.
